The Portland daily press., 1887-04-01
THE cAMEY TARPoN.
Great Luck Fishing In the Land o
Flowers.

A New York gentleman Of prominence,
who Is yachting and fishing in Florida wat
ers, has given this description Of his expe-
rienee with the tarpon. the largest fish in the
land of flowers:
After building my yacht, with the pur-
pose in view Of visiting the west coast Of
Florida to indulge in some lively sport In
fishing which we were informed could only
be found in that section, we changed our
minds and Induced our friend Lieut.. Hem to
join with us in trip to the east coast and try
some OF the lesser kinds Of fish, such as bass,
trout sheepshead, snappers, &c. Imagine
our surprise and incredulity when told by the
residents that the famous tarpOn was 10 be
found Ia our near vicinity, so we decided 10
investigate. ,she first evening we went 10
the west side Of the river with our lines,
hooks, snels, and other paTaDhernalia 10 SEQ
what was 20 be seen. Our first view Of the
beauties was Immediately after mOOnrfse,
when they were 10 be seen leaping and flying
through the air, gambolling and playing.
their bright, silvery scales glistening IN the
moonlight, an0rding scene that beggars
description. We undertook the task OF hook
ing few Of them, and, after struggling for
some time Intellectually, we finally succeeded
in bringing one of them up TO the side Of the
boat apparently exhausted; then the fun be-
gan in earnest The fish seemed 10 realize his
critical situation. and as we failed to bring
we were at sea, as II were, with an elephant
ON our hands and no means to capture him.
The next evening we we're more fOrtu-
nate. We supplied ourselves with the larg-
est and most powerful shark hooks, made
smells eighteen inches 10 two feet In length
Of quadruple twisted wire to prevent the
monsters jaws from getting away with our
hooks and tackle. With heavy lances with
which to pierce the fish should we catch one.
we once more res0rted 10 the scene of action.
We had learned two lessOns-that the tackle
used to catch the west shore tarpOn was alb
s0lutely insufficient and had to be substituted
by the most powerful shark tackle, and that
the proper time to angle was by moonlight
when they come In the inlets and cuts 10 feed
on the smaller fish that abound In these
places at those times. The scene that pre-
Sented itself on our arrival was one Of the
most exciting interest. Here, there. and on
all sides Of us were TO be seen leaping and
flashing In the moonlight the glistening
forms of these graceful and fearless cfea-
lures. As we would cast out our lines baited
with mullet they would be seized almost inn
mediately, and ere we could tighten our
grasp the fish would dart to this side OF that.
One moment the line would be entirely limp
and apparently empty, when, swish, over TO
the right OF you would leap q monster eight
or ten feet in the air, shaking his wonderful
" formed head, and nine times out OF ten the
hook would 20 spinning several feet away
A strange feature of the fsh's pranks was
his attempt to grab the hook after throwing
II from his mouth, sometimes catching Il be-
fore II struck the water.
Thus the sport continued, ever watchful
lest the line became tangled In the least with
any part Of the body, for in that case were
the iish to take course from the boat, the
unfortunate would run great risk Of being
drawn overheard or being badly laeerated.
| The wonderful power possessed BY these
i denizens Of the sea may be judged from the
fact that in the capture OF a hundred pound.
er the boat containing myself and assistant Z
was drawn back and forth over a distance Of
two miles or more. This means being ems
ployed TO wear out the strength OF the nsii nsn
| IL Is at last drawn up TO a distance tlat-Wln
allow an assistant 10 spear him, ana even
then 10 requires considerable skill % lana llnl
in the boat while undergoing his last eiloit
| and struggles Lucky IS he who succeeds IN
getting one Of these varieties for OF all gamey
fish this Is considered by seamen the most
| difficult TO capture"